Meet the Team
Who We Are
Girls Education Movement Trust (GEMS TRUST) was established in 2018 by our president, Sanjiv Joshi. The organization just started out by funding school supplies for primary schools in the village he was raised. Now, nearly three years later, we have expanded to doing more than just providing materialistic goods. We have expanded into more villages, and even started our own scholarship for young women seeking secondary education. We welcome you to meet our amazing, dedicated and hard-working team:
Sanjiv Joshi
President
Sanjiv Joshi is the president and founder of GEMS Trust. Through GEMS Trust, Sanjiv has worked tirelessly with enacting real change in the villages where he was raised, creating a full circle of opportunity and gratitude for his hometown. GEMS Trust also works with communities in the U.S. as well as the operations occurring in India, to ensure that all young women have the opportunity to pursue education. Sanjiv has volunteered as a coach with Girls On the Run, an organization that blends out-door exercise through 5K runs, empowerment and team-building workshops. Currently, he is working to rebuild the primary school he attended in his youth located in the village of Vansoli, Gujarat. To read more about this project check out What We Do.
“ I know there are fathers, mothers and parents out there like me who hope to provide their children with opportunities and a future limited by nothing. I also recognize there are societies and ideations which prevent young girls from obtaining something as simple and necessary as education. I refuse to accept the justifications many have set for preventing girls from becoming educated. Our work helps combat the stigma and social evils deemed on women, not only in rural villages in India, but also in our society today. We want to refute these excuses history has burdened women with. With education and empowerment, women have the tools to thread their own future. To walk and create their own avenues and paths. I will gladly follow them, for after all, they are heading in the right direction, propelling a better, kinder and brighter world for us all. ”
-Sanjiv Joshi
Heema Joshi and
Heena Joshi
Co-Vice Presidents & Treasury Team
Heema and Heena Joshi are Biomedical Sciences majors on a pre-medical track at a University in the states and have been with the organization since its initial creation in 2018. Women empowerment and advocacy is nothing new for these sisters. They have volunteered with many movements, national and local organizations, thus becoming knowledgeable on a myriad of issues affecting women in today’s day and age. This includes working with grassroot projects and local Pennsylvania representatives via the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, volunteering in PP health clinics in underprivileged communities and joining nation-wide movements and protests. Their efforts strive to eradicate threats to educational equality such as stigmas regarding menstrual health, the archaic dowry system and child marriage, as well as closing the gender gap.
“ By securing an education, we are creating a new narrative for these young and bright women. They are able to become free-thinkers, innovators, and living proof that women are capable of unfathomable things. Education is freedom, it has the capacity to provide women in these communities with something they haven’t had before such as choices, opportunities, and an environment that will harness their potential. We are the vessels for change. ”
-Heema Joshi
“ When a woman is educated she ignites, empowers and cultivates change —she becomes a revolution, she places the first stone down on a path for many after her. Today, we help young women place that first stone, so maybe through the tumultuous nature of time, acquiring something as fundamental as education won’t be so difficult anymore ”.
-Heena Joshi
Alka Joshi
Secretary
We are working on a myriad of things that we need help keeping track of our amazing stories and initiatives. Alka helps us stay balanced and organized with all of our future projects, records and non-profit documentation.
Pretesh Upadhyay, Kartik Joshi
- Community Outreach Coordinators & International Representatives
Pretesh and Kartik are our on-ground representatives overseas that work with local communities to regulate all of our projects. They are our eyes and ears, allowing us to fully be adaptable to all the change we are creating, as well as staying in touch with the neighborhoods and communities. Pretesh and Kartik also communicate with the principals and teachers of our partnering schools.
You!
Caring Activists and Advocates
We can’t do half of the rewarding and revolutionary work without help from advocates like you! Want to find out ways to help? Check out How To Get Involved.